Alec chuckled. “It would not be a bad idea for at least some, if not all of us, to go out and be seen in the city centre.” He shot Gethin a wicked grin. “Use one of Sorley’s credit cards. He has money to burn.” He gestured at Edwin and Marlowe. “Come, leave them alone. They are about to argue then have loud, obnoxious sex. You do not want to be here.”
Ignoring Edwin’s glib protestation that he’d be up for a threesome, Gethin firmly closed the door on their retreating backs.
“What did he mean, ‘money to burn’? I don’t even know what you do for a living. Do you even have a job?” He realised there were big gaps in his knowledge of this man.
Sorley stared at the ceiling, then turned his blue-grey gaze on Gethin. “I have made some excellent investments over the years. Taken some risks, and some losses, but I’m a financial whiz kid, I guess you’d say. Plus I have a very profitable sideline as the landlord of a decent number of properties. Alec is usually more careful than to drop a clanger like that, but he’s not wrong. A whole new wardrobe won’t even put a dent in my fortune.”
“I’m not going to be some kind of kept man.” Gethin’s snarl was out before he could prevent it. “Who the hell do you think I am?” His alpha raged inside him. What an affront to suggest he couldn’t provide for himselfandhis mate, if needed! Shifters could be sexist, and many of the elders needed a substantial dose of LGBT+ education, but it was deeply ingrained in wolf society that a good alpha looked after his — or very occasionally, her — pack.
Sorley frowned. “Don’t get your knickers in a twist. It was only an offer. I’m rich, Gethin. I’m three hundred years old and I use thrall like other folk use their bus pass, which means my daily expenses are on the low side, especially considering my income. I don’t mind sharing what I have with the man I love.” He looked a bit shocked to have said the L word so freely, but pressed on. “I thought it would be a nice present.”
“Not if you’re buying me clothes because you’re embarrassed by how I dress!”
“Oh for Christ’s sake, would you listen to yourself? When did I say that?” Gethin raised his eyebrows and fixed him with a look. He watched as Sorley ran back over their conversation, then protested.
“I didn’t mean it like that. But you have to admit, you’re not really bothered about clothes like I am, are you?” His tone turned wheedling. “Please let’s not fight. It’s such a waste of time when we could be fucking. You’re already half undressed.”
Gethin couldn’t help but laugh. “I will go shopping with you. On the condition thatIhave the final say in what I buy. I will also pay for whatever I choose. I’m not loaded like you apparently are, but the Council pays me well, and my I.T. consultancy doesn’t do badly either.” He tugged Sorley against him for a long slow kiss. “I’m not a toy or a dress-up doll. I’m a person with feelings, Sorley. You can make suggestions, because really, I’ve never been interested in fashion, but don’t try to change me. It won’t end well.”
Sorley nodded. “Do you think Alec was trying to get us to talk?” he asked with a thoughtful expression. “It’s unlike him to be deliberately mean.”
Gethin unfastened his ill-fitting jeans and stepped out of them. Motioning to the bed, he indicated Sorley should join him. Sorley took the hint and disrobed at speed.
“Alec seems to be a very wise and somewhat devious man,” Gethin said. He captured Sorley’s wrists in one large hand and stretched them above his lover’s head. “Perhaps he thought we needed to talk, and right now. Because I am absolutelynotgoing to agree to becoming a kept man.” Straddling Sorley and pinning him to the bed, he scrabbled in the drawer for the lube he knew was kept there. “Of course, we could drag this out and you could keep mouthing off at me, or…” He waggled the bottle. “We could agree that you need to think before offering the wrong kind of incentives to make me a happy man.” Preventing Sorley from responding by stuffing his tongue into his mouth, they made out furiously for a few minutes, until Sorley was jerking his hips off the mattress in an attempt to bring his dick into contact with any part of Gethin that could bring him relief.
Gethin grinned, feeling devilish. “So, what’s it going to be? Wanna play, or argue?”
Sorley’s eyes blew wide until barely a rim of blue remained around his pupils. “Are you threatening me?” His cock pulsed under Gethin’s thigh.
Gethin’s brain stuttered. “Do you want me to?”
A tidal wave of emotion came off Sorley then; want, excitement, trepidation… The blast was so strong Gethin had to take a second to centre himself. Then Sorley licked his lips.
“I…I think so?”
Gethin was tempted. Very tempted. But nervous anticipation could all too easily tip over into full-blown fear, and they were on rocky ground right now. He didn’t think it wasn’t anything an open and frank discussion wouldn’t sort out, but he wasn’t willing to risk it. Not when everything was so new. Plus they had house guests, so, no.
He eased his grasp on Sorley’s wrists. “I will, but not today. You’ll have to wait until the time is right.” Another gasp, this time with a blast of pure exhilaration, told him he’d been right to delay anything too kinky. They had time, more time than he could wrap his mind around, to try anything and everything either of them could ever dream up.
He bent over to clamp his teeth over Sorley’s ear and tugged. Sorley shivered. “Ahh, come on. Don’t make me beg. I need your cock in me, like, yesterday.”
It was hasty and clumsy and over too soon, both of them wild-eyed and wrung out, gazing woozily at the ceiling while they waited for the rush to abate. Sorley moved first.
“I’m sorry,” he said simply, standing at the end of the bed near the bathroom door. “I should have realised you weren’t that kind of man. I mean, I did know. I just didn’t think before I spoke.”
“What kind?”
“The kind who would use me as a source of easy income.” His smile was slightly sad, but the vibe coming off him was anything but. “I think perhaps I spent too long in the past with men who’d use me for anything they could get, so it took me a while to see that not everyone is like that. Thatyou’renot like that.”
“I should hope not!” Gethin also got up. “It’s about time you worked it out. You deserve better, my love.” He pushed open the door. “Want to shower together?”
38
GETHIN
The bright lightsof Leeds city centre were an assault on Gethin’s brand new vampire senses. Feeling very self-conscious in the darkening streets, he’d had to cover his eyes with sunglasses. They headed straight to a large store to buy a pair of wraparounds in the darkest tint they had. With relief, he swapped the old pair for the new and regarded the others.
“How do you do it?”
